Why the “Indoctrination Theory” makes no sense in Mass Effect 3



I am probably not the last one in the world to argue that the so called “Indoctrination Theory” is in all aspects merely suggestive on which views and sections of the game are shown and is completely based on assumptions. Now with this post, there will be a lot of IT supports that will be sending me snide and repulsive comments and remarks, saying I am wrong and such. But here is thing: I can prove, based on both the games content, from the games themselves and added content, as well as the books. Not only with the things that I will no doubt explain in depth and hopefully prove that the “Indoctrination Theory” is merely a myth, I hope that people with finally start to open there minds and opinions that, even though Mass Effect 3 lacked many things from the get go, there are some things that have yet to be explained, and hopefully Bioware can expand on those things in the coming years.

Now, lets start with the part that started this conspiracy in the first place.

*Spoiler Warning*

#1: “The Last Breath Scene”

Since the release of Mass Effect 3, people have been so focused around this particular scene, particularly those who believe in the Indoctrination Theory. Now, we all know that if you get a certain amount of war assets you get to have certain types of endings, in regards to which of the four possible choices. In both Control and Synthesis endings, you are desinigrated into artificial code and are in all ways deceased. But with the Destroy endings, there is that one single scene, where Shepard is buried under a pile of rubble, with the chest plate exposed, and Shepard takes one single breath. And some how, this scene is supports the theory.

Now lets look at the ending one at a time here. In the control ending, it does make a lot of sense to take control of the reapers. To control your enemies power and to use that power for a better cause has been basic element in militaries and armies since the dawn of man. Capturing forts and castles, using their weapons against their own founders and creators is common. And with Shepard in control of the Reapers, it will ensure that, even though Reapers did horrible things to planets and people around the universe, those things will never happen again. And with that, worlds and societies could be rebuild and advance technologically. The same is true for Synthesis. With the knowledge of every the Reapers have done in their many cycles, civilizations can improve and transcend into states of a golden age, a renaissance of knowledge and peace. With Destroy, however, it also makes sense in regards to a few things. Shepard’s goal was to find a way to stop and destroy the Reapers. However, with choosing this, all synthetic life is destroyed. This is a reasonable sacrifice in a way, seeing how there is a chance to recreate a synthetics such as the Geth and EDI. But the ending is that, regardless of how many asset points you acquire, we don’t see Shepard either get blown up, burned to death, or even truly die. All we see is that Shepard is blown backwards.

With that in mind, how can one say, let alone prove, that Control and Synthesis supported indoctrination, and choosing Destroy breaks the Reapers control of Shepard? We don’t truly know that the Reapers and synthetics everywhere could be destroyed, or even if Shepard was truly indoctrinated in the first place. But here is the thing, if Shepard was indoctrinated, wouldn’t the Reapers control Shepard’s actions and prevent their own destruction? “Oh but Reapers wanted to control Shepard, or have Shepard synthesized. Isn’t it obvious? Destroy clearly proves Shepard is indoctrinated.”  How can it prove anything? For all we know Shepard could be on the Catalyst or the Citadel, or even somewhere half way across the galaxy for all we know, with the Reapers and Geth destroyed. If Shepard was truly indoctrinated, your choice of what your endings could be wouldn’t matter, let alone your actions in all three games. There wouldn’t be a paragon or renegade bar. There would probably be a bar that would just be black.


#2: The Prothean VI’s

I think it would be a shame for those who forgot that the two Prothean VI’s, Vigil and Vendetta, said a quite important thing here, that supports the fact that the Indoctrination Theory is merely speculation.

Vigil: “We do not sense the taint of Indoctrination in you…”

Vendetta: The VI detects an indoctrinated presence which is Kai Leng, not Shepard or the crew.

Plain and simple. How can people say that if Shepard was indoctrinated from the beginning of the game, when clearly theses two lines prove otherwise? How and where? You tell me, because until I see, with definitive proof, that Shepard was in fact indoctrinated, I will stand firm behind my evidence.


#3: Shepard’s Death in Mass Effect (First Death)

When Shepard died in the beginning of Mass Effect 2, this really left of a lot of mystery in regards to what Cerberus really did to Shepard. Now, as we know, the Illusive Man has wanted to know how to control the Reapers ever since implanting Jon Grayson with Reaper tech. But as Miranda said: “The Illusive Man wants to bring back Shepard as he/she were before his/her death. The same mind, the same morals, the same personality.” Obviously, if there was a point where Shepard could have become indoctrinated, it would be here, and considering that indoctrination takes years to develop, there is a problem in this logic. Shepard was dead for two years, meaning that there couldn’t possibly be any exposure to indoctrination at all, regardless of if the Illusive Man wanted to control the Reapers. If this had happened, the Lazarus Project would have failed. Shepard wouldn’t be who he/she was. And with the medical scans conducted to Shepard, wouldn’t there be something out of the ordinary if there was something? And yet, there is just in implants, which you can fix with the facial reconstruction.

Obviously, if the Reapers wanted to indoctrinate and control Shepard, they wouldn’t have tried and killed him/her in the first place.


#4: Leviathan Content

With the release of Leviathan, it gave a glimpse of what the Reapers origins were, as well as some information about indoctrination. Apparently the Reapers wanted to be able to figure out a way to indoctrinate the many species in the galaxy, but as it was stated, it has taken many cycles to perfect ways to indoctrinate. With this in mind, if each cycle is trying find a way to perfect a way to indoctrinate, why is Shepard the focus of it? Why Shepard? Is it possible that the Reapers actually and truly fear being exterminated by one single human? And if perchance Shepard was in fact indoctrinated, it would take years to establish the effects of it. But do we see the Reapers taking control of Shepard in the middle of a battle or in the space battle before the ending? No we don’t. If the Leviathan’s we able to control the Reapers and not be able to control Shepard, make him/her not reach where they were located, that one more reason why IT is pure myth.


#5: The rumored “Project X”

So lately I have been hearing about this so called “Project X” and how it will “Prove that the indoctrination theory is true.” Really? Just because it’s called Project X, people immediately assume it will focus on this theory? Well for starters, I doubt that it will prove that the IT is in face true. Next, I would hazard a guess that it will be based on something that either deals with biotics or something Cerberus related, or even something that is related to one of the books for game. What it will truly be, who really truly knows until it is announced.

So, until we hear more about this, speculate all you want people. Just don’t get your hopes up if your wrong.


#6: Bioware’s Response

If Shepard, as well as his/her crew, were supposed to be either indoctrinated  or not in Mass Effect 3, the true answer will have to come from Bioware and Casey Hudson. The answer from them would make this whole thing official and put an end to everything. If it was meant for Shepard to be indoctrinated, there will be red flags with this announcement because there will be things missing and plot holes to prove that it was true. I mean, where, how, and when was Shepard indoctrinated? Because if Shepard was part of the Arrival DLC and spent six months in confinement, when did all this happen? And if not part of Arrival, the same thing. What truly happened during those six months, we might never truly know.

But in hindsight, if in fact Shepard wasn’t meant to be indoctrinated, there will be those who will cry fowl and demand that IT is real. But how can such a theory truly exist if the only evidence is one scene and a few items that “support” it.


Final Words

Now I know for a fact that most, if not all, supporters of this theory will go ape shit and will want me to shut up and say I am wrong. There will be some who might go back and review this to their games. And there will be those who don’t give a damn and might be curious about this. Either way, this theory has been subjected to a unfathomable amount of comments on the Bioware Social Forums.

Now I will say that some people will interrupt their games their own way. I will say that. But since this topic is so big, and is still a big question mark on whether or not it is in fact true or not, will be speculative until we get a answer from Bioware and Casey Hudson.

But when it comes down to it, I strongly believe that the Indoctrination Theory, having been based on just one pinnacle scene and dozens of speculative context and content, is merely a fan based opinion and should be moved into the fan portion of the forums. Have the topic being spammed of merely speculative and outrageous suggestions of content to should be added, it is a becoming a topic that is beginning to get out dated. There are more things that prove that this theory is just a fan based opinion. But how people will interrupt the game is the what it comes down to it.


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Yea, there are some things that I did not add, such as the crews responses and such, but in my opinion, they are just minor things and can be debunked. Overall, I know some of you will either approve or dislike this post. Either way, this is just my opinion and proofs. If you want to prove me wrong, show me your own evidence. And no, I don’t want a link to the Indoctrination Theory post on Bioware Social Forum. I want YOUR own evidence. Prove me wrong if you can. If you have some actual valid points, I use your name and info in another post, probably a follow up to this. Either way, view, comment, give me feedback. And no, I don’t want any explicit negativity. If you like it, tell me what you liked and what things you liked. If you didn’t like it, then tell me why you don’t like it and give me your own reasons why I am wrong and such.

ME4, Omega, More DLCs, and Endings.

So, for the sake of my mind, and yours, and with big news from Bioware with their founders leaving, the announcement of both another Mass Effect game in the making, as well as more DLC coming out in the next six months, AND Omega DLC becoming official, there is a lot of things to talk about, along with a few of my topics I would like to discuss.

The Next Mass Effect Game

Obviously, I got to start out and say that if Bioware learns from its mistakes with Mass Effect 3, and make their next game a spectacular masterpiece, that will definitely change that attitude and feel for Bioware, and more than likely bring people back that liked the series but not the endings. True that the ending could have been much better from the start, no doubt about that. But with this recent announcement, it obvious that Bioware is saying: “No new endings, we are sticking to the ones that we already have.”

What I am curious about is what the next game will be: Whether it will some how be a prequel to Mass Effect or will it be after the events of Mass Effect 3? If it does turn out to be after ME3, will the story and the endings, be either as good or even better than that? Or if it does turn out the be a prequel, what will it be about? Will the endings, regardless of which decision you choose, correlate to the fourth game, if they do make a forth. Or will the endings of the prequel lead up to the beginnings of Mass Effect 1. Until more information is released, and more than likely, all the possible DLC that could be released for it, the next game will be up for speculation.

Regardless of how people feel of Bioware and the endings, I feel as though there could possibly be more to the Mass Effect universe than just Reapers. Could there be a even bigger threat than just the Reapers? How will the endings, if the game follows after Mass Effect 3, affect the game? Etc. With what we players could vastly think of and imagine, the possibilities are endless with what the next game could be.



Omega DLC Announcement

With it finally being announced, Omega will more than likely be as good, if not better, than Leviathan. Don’t get me wrong, Leviathan was a really great first DLC for ME3, and it was especially a much need actual DLC for the game. For a starter DLC, Leviathan definitely meet a lot of things that I was hoping for with it. But there were a few things that could have been added. But despite a few things missing, it was a really good dlc.

The thing that I am looking forward to is what will Omega feel like and be like. I definitely have high expectations for this dlc, given that fact that Leviathan, the first actual true dlc for ME3, was in my mind, as good as The Lair of the Shadow Broker. The things we probably could expect would be a few new weapons, more weapon mods, maybe even Aria as a squad mate, either permanent or temporary, more assets, and maybe a new Hub world, like it was in ME2. These are all just speculation and guesses but with the missing weapon mods that were expected to being released with the Earth DLC, and the fact that they add some sort of weapon or armor into a dlc, hopefully it will relate to the name of the DLC, and not something random.

If this DLC either is as good, or even better, than Leviathan, Bioware will definitely start, in my mind, getting a little more respect for the game than they did once they released it. Not much, but just a little.
With Bioware saying that they will be releasing dlcs in the next six month or so, I would guess that Omega will be out probably early to late November.





Next Launch of Dlcs for Mass Effect 3

With Omega coming this fall, and Bioware saying that there will be more dlcs out in the next six months, there will more than likely be a fair share of both single player and multiplayer content that could come out. Since there have been some sort of dlc coming out pretty much every single month so far, the next dlc that will probably pop out with be in October. What it will be, who truly knows. My guess would be more multiplayer content. More maps, guns, and the usual characters. Or we could get something for Single player. Either way, I think this week we could get an announcement or have something leaked out.

But either way, look for something new to come out in October.


Endings: Why there won’t be any new Endings for any of us

So, for the sake of my mind, and for those who are tired of seeing and hearing comments, posts, and topics of people wanting new endings, I will make this perfectly clear for everyone.

There will be no new endings. At all.

I say this because I, and probably a fair amount of us players, are sick and tired seeing posts and topics and comments on both Twitter, Facebook, Bioware Social Forums, and else where, of people begging, complaining, bitching and demanding, new endings for Mass Effect 3.

Now I know that many of you wanted a romantic and happy ending, regardless of which choice you choose. I am totally with you on that fact. But the here is the thing: In my own opinion, the Original endings we alright visually, but was missing a whole bunch of important scenes and dialogue. The Extended Cut, on the other hand, was exactly what was needed to fill in the gaps that were lacking from the Original set. But still, there could have been some things that could, and should, have been added to EC. Like what happened to your love interest, what happened to the blue babies, or Tali’s home on Rannoch, and other things that were missing. If Bioware had added theses minor details to the Extended Cut, would it made the endings even better? Possibly. Or, if EA hadn’t pushed Bioware to push out Mass Effect 3 to early, and waited till it everything was said and done? Possibly as well.

But the thing is this: Mass Effect 3was supposed to be the end of Shepard’s tale. Shepard is done for now. And true, many of us have fallen in love with the characters from all three games. But it doesn’t mean that that, with the announcement of a fourth game, that some or even most of those characters could be in the next game possibly. But also with that announcement, Bioware is pretty much saying: We won’t be changing the ending. True, they might add a few things to the endings, here and there, but they will still be the same, whether it’s the Original or Extended Cut.

So, in short, there are many of those who still want and dream of Bioware to change the endings yet again. But in truth, it won’t happen, since with the announcement of a fourth game that they plan to work on, a new ending style is more than likely out of the mix. If you are so desperate of wanting a new ending, why don’t you write a fan fiction about your own view of how the ending should be, or if you are skilled, why not mod Mass Effect 3 and some how create a new endings. Either way, just move on and deal with the fact that there won’t be new endings out for this game.

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So, I will be cutting this a little short, I was going to talk about my view of the “Indoctrination Theory” and a few other things, but…I decided to end it here. I will be trying to make it a weekly thing. So, read up.

Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer: Upside, Downside, and Questions

When Mass Effect 3 was first announced and the rumor of there being multiplayer in the game brought a lot of question and speculation, as well as hype, of the possibility of there being a classic multiplayer types in the game: Death match, Team Death match, Capture the Flag, etc, in a game with a new style combat and a new feel to the game. But when it was announced that it would be co-op multiplayer, I actually thought that it would be a nice addition to the game. And at first, it did not disappoint. Connecting your progress from multiplayer to single player, being able to promote your classes for assets, and the challenging aspect of working together on maps was a huge plus for a game that was more focused on single player and a great storyline.

But the most definite move for Bioware was to add content for multiplayer and have it for free. Having new maps, weapons, characters and powers, gear and equipment, it made the game and the style of play change for those who have a preference on how they play. The most ultimate change was adding a 4th difficulty to the first three difficulties: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and now Platinum. I think that with adding Platinum, it is a welcome challenge for those who wanted a bit more of a challenge. The other difficulties are great for the occasional recreational play, and even Gold can be a bit at times depending on who is playing and the type of map and enemy even.

But with the positive, there is negatives to the multiplayer. And the first negative I should say is the Galaxy Awareness decline. This to me made sense but is absolutely frustrating. Lets say you get to 100% awareness and your playing through single player. With in 1 - 2 hours, your rating will go down by roughly 3 - 5 percent. Which means you constantly need to play multiplayer to keep it up. This is a bad move. Not everyone is going to play Mass Effect 3 multiplayer every single day to keep their awareness up. In my opinion I think that the decline rate should be this: 7 days = 7 percent loss. That way causal gamers can get their awareness up and the rate of decline is the same for everyone.

Another of the negatives for multiplayer for this game is buff/nerf system that Bioware does almost every single week. It is pointless in my mind that, instead of fixing the various glitches that are in the game, they are more focused on making matches more challenging and frustrating. I get that they want to “balance” things for players so that they get a bit of a challenge, but some of the nerfs and buffs just make you scratch your head and say “What the fuck Bioware?” If they want to keep multiplayer fun and have people still play it, I think that Bioware needs to focus more on the glitches part of game and less on buffing and nerfing. I say this because the famous glitch of the game, aka Vanguard glitch, has yet, even after three patches now, to be fixed. Same with the missile glitch and the ladder glitch. True game will have there own glitches here and there, it seems to me and many of us out there that the glitches aren’t getting fixed or attended to.

Since Bioware seems to now be focused on adding and announcing new downloadable content roughly every month or so now, the main question other there is, will there be new game types and will there be bigger maps. I myself would like to have some sort of team death match or get to drive a vehicle in multiplayer, or even have an actual horde mode, without the extraction. If Bioware can somehow think bigger than just 4 player co-op, think bigger than just adding characters and weapons and such, they could get better at getting players that at first didn’t like the game to be more attracted to it.

Overall, I like the multiplayer. It’s a nice add for a game that has really evolved in the game play style over the course of two games. But there has to be a lot of changes, especially the Galaxy Awareness. If Bioware were to change it to 7days  = 7% loss, I think that would be a good start and great move for casual players like myself. I don’t play Mass Effect 3 every single day, and it is such a pain to get the awareness back up.

So overall I give Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer 5/10.  Great for casual gaming/hardcore gaming, but a lot of things need to added and changed before it gets better.